Improvement in car-wheel journals



B. HINKLEY. Gar-Wheel Journal,

No. 220,921. Patented Oct. 28, I879.

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UNITED STATES PATENT FFIGE.

BENJAMIN IIINKLEY, OF STOUGHTON, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF OF HIS RIGHT TOHOWARD G. HINKLEY, OF NORTH MIDDLEBOROUGH, AND ALEXANDER S. JOHNSTON, OFBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAR-WHEEL JOURNALS. Q

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 220,921, dated October28, 1879; application filed April 14, 1879.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN HINKLEY, of Stoughton, in the county ofNorfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement inGar-\Nheels, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the aceompan yin gdrawin gs, m akingpart of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective View ofa carwheel and its box having my improvement applied thereto. Fig. 2 isa vertical section through the center of the same. Fig. 3 is a verticalsection on the line a a: of Fig. 2; Fig. 4, detail in perspective.

My invention consists in a car-wheel provided with a central circularprojection or hub on its side, in combination with a frame or holdercarrying a series of anti-friction rollers, which are interposed betweenthe outer periphery of the hub and the interior of the box or chamberwithin which the rollers are placed, whereby the axle is relieved ofstrain, astheweightof the loadis supported bythehub instead of by thejournal of the axle, as heretofore, and consequently the liability ofthat class of accidents which have been caused by the breaking of thatpart of the axle outside of the wheel composing the journal is entirelyavoided.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand and use my invention,I will proceed to describe the manner in which I have carried it out.

In the said drawings, A represents a carwheel, which may rotateindependently of the axle B, or be fixed firmly thereon, as preferred.On the outer side of the wheel A is a huh, I), cast in the same piecetherewith, the outer end of the axle B being flush with the end of thehub. Around the outer periphery of the huh I) is fitted a circular frameor holder, 0, composed of two parallel rings, d d, firmly connectedtogether by a series of studs or short rods, 0, arranged at equaldistances apart, and at the center of each space between two contiguousstuds is placed an anti-friction roller, f, formed of hardened steel,these rolls f being journaled in the frame 0, so as to revolve freely,and being of such diameter as to project above and below the planes ofthe edges of the rings d d, so as to bear on the periphery of the hub I)and the interior of v a box or chamber, D, which is adapted to receivethe hub and its roller-frame (J, which fit snugly therein, as seen inFigs. 2 and 3, the frame or holder 0, with its rollers f, being free torevolve within the box D, which is secured by bolts g, or otherwise, tothe frameE of the truck.

The diameter of the central portion of each of the rollers f is,preferably, made less than that of the ends, in order to reduce the areaof the bearing-surface as much as possible. By thus interposiu g aseries of friction-rollers between the hub b and the interior of the boxor chamber within which they are placed, the axle B is relieved of thestrain and weight of the load, which is brought directly upon the huhI), and isthence distributed throughout the entirebodyof the wheel A.Thehub revolving as described, in contact with the anti-frictionbearing-surface composed of the rolls j, which materially lessens thefriction on the moving parts in contact, and by thus causing the weightto be sustained by the hub of the wheel instead of by a journal formedon the end of the axle, as heretofore, the liability of accident isgreatly diminished, while the increased diameter of the bearing-surtaeeaffords solidity and great strength.

The outer surface of the wheel at h is so formed as to fit up snuglyagainst the open inner side of the roller-box D, a washer, i, of

leather or other suitable material, being interposed between them, inorder to completely exclude dust and all other extraneous matter fromthe bearing-surfaces, and the outer side of the box D is provided with acap or disk,

k, secured in place by screws '1, which may be removed to affordconvenient access to the interior of the box and rollers f.

I am aware that a series of anti-friction rollers has been applied tothe journal of a caraxle but such rollers have been placed in di rectcontact with the journal itself, and between it and the interior of thejournal-box.

To such construction and arrangement of and the interior of the box orchamber D, subparts I lay no claim, as the axle is not therebystantially as and for the purpose set forth.

relieved of the strain or weight, of the load. Witness my hand this 20thday of March,

What I claim as my invention, and desire A. D. 1879.

to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The wheelA, with its hnbb, in combination BENJAMIN HINKLEY' with the boxor chmnber J) and the frame or in presence ofholder (7, with itsanti-friction roller-sf, intcr- L. H. PACKARD, posed between the outerperiphery of the hub J. A. IIINKLEY.

